The BOK said that the rise in the FX reserve mainly resulted from interest gains by investing in bonds.

The growing FX reserves and current account surplus have been serving as buffers for South Korea at a time when the Federal Reserve's tapering of quantitative easing is sparking concerns about capital outflows from emerging markets.

As of the end of December, South Korea was the world's seventh-largest holder of foreign-exchange reserves. (Yonhap News)